Author's note: I promised myself no more WIPs, but I couldn't shake this idea. It started out as a thought about a crossover of sorts with the musical Aida using the reincarnation aspect implied in the play and morphed into something much bigger. The title of this comes from one of the songs in the show. You should go look it up. Very angsty! I hope you enjoy! I'd love to hear your thoughts. And if you are a fan of Aida, come fangirl with me on Tumblr (booksrockmyface).

Huge thanks to my beta everlylark for jumping right on board with this and helping me get some thoughts in order ready for the rest of this monster! You guys need to go check out her work! Totally worth the read!

Another thanks goes out to everyone that follows me on Tumblr or have been liking and reblogging all the stuff I've been posting about this. I hope this is everything you expect and more!

Happy reading!

Elaborate Lives

Everlark Soulmate AU

Chapter One

Everything was dark. Pitch black. Katniss looked all around frantically, reaching out to feel the walls of the small space. They were rough stone. And it was small, growing smaller by the minute. The air was thick in her lungs. She couldn't breathe. She opened her mouth over and over, but nothing.

Katniss awoke gasping for air, gulping down great lungfuls until she felt Gale's hand on her leg. She looked over to see his sleepy eyes.

"You're okay." He assured her. "Just the dream." He pulled her back down and she stared up at the ceiling as he traced the length of her arm. "You want to talk about it?"

"I've talked about it enough." She said softly.

Their bedroom door opened slowly and a pair of bright gray eyes peeked around it. "Mama? Daddy? Can I come sleep with you?"

Katniss nodded and held her arms out. "Sure. Come here, baby."

Rebecca climbed in between her parents and burrowed under the blanket into Gale's side, as she usually did. Katniss combed her fingers through the girl's brown hair and looked over her head to her husband.

Gale lifted a hand and stroked Katniss's cheek in the dark. "No more bad dreams."

She shook her head and closed her eyes, her arm wrapped securely around their daughter's waist. There was no way she was getting back to sleep tonight. So she pretended, listening to the others breathing and snoring softly beside her.

She'd had the dream since before she could remember. Her mother used to tell her that even as a baby she would wake up screaming and there was no consoling her. She never got farther than the darkness and the suffocation. Once, she thought that she heard someone whispering to her, but she'd awakened with Gale talking in his sleep and told herself that had made its way into her dream.

Samantha pushed open the door just as Katniss had decided to give up on sleep and climbed into the tiny space beside her mother. Katniss loved that her older daughter still got into the bed beside her some Saturday mornings.

Katniss kissed Sam's forehead and whispered, "Did you start my coffee?"

Samantha snorted. "No. You can make your own coffee."

"Oh, you're such a loving daughter, Sam-Sam." Katniss teased. "What did I do to deserve you?"

Gale chuckled on the other side of the bed and mumbled, "Ungrateful spawn."

"I'll make coffee, Daddy." Becca said with her sweet, high voice. "Mama showed me how to push the buttons." She sat up. "But first I have to pee." She looked around frantically and then crawled over Gale and ran out of the room.

Samantha laughed. "I'll make sure she doesn't burn herself."

Katniss gave her older daughter one more kiss and then let go. She turned her head and watched as Gale got out of bed and pulled a pair of old sweats on over his underwear. "You and Sam are going to the range, right?" She asked softly when he noticed her watching.

Gale nodded. "And you get to go to the birthday party." He grinned as he turned and fished a shirt out of his drawer.

Katniss covered her face. "Don't remind me. Dozens of five- and six-year-olds running wild and high on sugar is my idea of the perfect Saturday afternoon." She dropped her hands. "You think Delly would mind if ditched?"

"I think Delly would be very disappointed." He perched on the edge of the bed. "Want me to come? Sam and I could go to the range another day."

With a big sigh, she sat up and shook her head. "No, you two haven't had any father-daughter time in a while. It's either all of us or you take both of them. Sam deserves extra daddy time without Becca. They say nine is one of those critical ages."

He smiled. "Madge says that nine is when the hormones start developing for puberty. We're in for some wild mood swings."

She laughed.

"What?"

She shook her head and kissed his cheek. "You're quoting Madge now." She got out of the bed and stretched. "At least this thing doesn't start for a while."

He nodded. "Take your time getting dressed. The girls and I will handle breakfast." He wrapped his arms around her and she returned the embrace. He rested his forehead against hers and said, "Can you believe next week is our anniversary already?"

"Ten years." Katniss sighed. "Can't believe you've put up with me this long."

Gale chuckled. "It's been a challenge." He brushed a kiss over her lips and then stepped away. "I encourage you to get in the shower before Sam or Becca decide they want to. You know how they can be."

"Water guzzlers like their father." She stepped toward the dresser. "I'll be down in ten minutes."

"I'll have pancakes ready." He promised as he walked out the door.

What she really wanted was to climb back in bed and sleep, but she knew that wouldn't happen. Maybe Becca would be so tuckered out from the party that she'd take a nap afterward. She could hope, anyway.

After showering and getting dressed, Katniss threw her hair up into its normal braid as she made her way down the stairs. Sounds of laughter greeted her as she walked toward the kitchen and she paused just outside the door to peek in.

Gale stood in the center of their kitchen with flour everywhere. Batter was splattered across the counter from the bowl to the pan where he cooked and everyone had some on their faces. None of them were very clean cooks, but at least Katniss knew how to keep the mess to a minimum. Gale didn't always seem to care. He was always the first to get cleaning when it was all done, leaving the place spotless. However, she knew the biggest joy was in creating together and Katniss loved to hear her family happy. It made everything worthwhile.

She stepped into the room and Becca ran over, "Mama, Daddy let me flip one and I made a mess. But then I tried again and it was better."

"I'm proud of you, Becca." Katniss combed her fingers through her daughter's hair. "Help me get plates."

Saturdays were lazy days. They slept until everyone woke up, which for the Hawthorne clan, perpetual morning people, always meant before seven. No matter how hard they tried, most Saturdays started early. There were a few days every once in a while where they could sleep until almost eight, but those days were rare. The rest of the day was usually filled with archery practice or just puttering around the house.

Katniss filled a plate for Becca and one of her own and sat down with the girl. She reached over to start spreading butter, but Becca asked, "Please, Mama, can I do it?"

She sighed and nodded, sitting back to watch her five-year-old make a mess of the butter. Katniss could have done it so much better and faster, but she was learning it was time to let her independent Becca do some things for herself.

Sam sat down and swiped the butter knife from her sister's hands.

Becca looked up and said, "I wasn't done yet."

"Yes, you were." She quickly spread butter over her pancakes and then stuck the knife back in the butter tub.

Becca grabbed it back quickly and the tub plopped to the floor where a great glob of it spilled out.

"Nice going." Sam chided.

Tears filled Becca's eyes as she looked around. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine." Gale said, lifting up the butter and cleaning up the mess. "Just calm down a little next time. Eat your pancakes." He kissed the top of Becca's head and walked back toward the stove.

Katniss picked at her own food as she watched her daughters eat and caught sight of Gale across the room finishing the pancakes. She loved him, but Gale was more like a friend these days than a husband. Not that she minded, there was nothing else she'd rather do in life than live with her best friend and raise their daughters. She just worried that it wouldn't be fair to them.

She'd seen secret looks pass between Gale and Madge and she mostly suspected that it was nothing but friendly. But there were days when she was feeling particularly vulnerable when it appeared more than friendly and she didn't know if she could trust her instincts.

She just always worried she was holding Gale back and she didn't ever want him to resent her. Maybe she should say something, but there was always a little girl within earshot and she didn't even know how to approach it. So she let it go. If Gale was unhappy, he would say something. Katniss was sure of it.

Katniss kissed the top of her daughter's head and gently nudged her toward the rest of the kids playing. Becca was definitely a combination of both her parents' introverted tendencies. And who could blame the girl for it? She just needed to be with one friend and everything would be okay.

"Hi there." A kind voice broke into her thoughts.

Katniss turned and smiled at the blonde man at her side. He was handsome and looked ready to flirt, so she purposely brushed her hair back with her left hand, letting her wedding band glint in the afternoon sun. "Hi." She responded.

"You're Becca's mom?" He asked, still all kind smiles.

"I am." She said cautiously. "And which one is yours?"

"Callie." He pointed to a girl just as fair as him, a slight red tint to her blonde locks.

It hit Katniss then. This was the dad of Becca's "bestest friend ever." She held out her hand. "Oh, Becca talks about Callie all the time. I'm Katniss Hawthorne."

"Peeta Mellark." He slipped his hand into hers and she felt a shock, just a little stronger than from static electricity, and an odd pull in the middle of her chest.

She removed her hand out if his quickly, still feeling aftershocks from the contact. She flexed her hand. And that spot in her chest felt like a soft ache.

He smiled as though nothing happened, but she could see in his eyes that he'd felt it too. He pointed. "My nephew is the birthday boy."

"Oh, right. Delly is a Mellark, too." She looked away, knowing that had sounded lame. Delly had been a Mellark for as long as Katniss had been a Hawthorne.

The fact she'd never really crossed paths with Ryan's brother was surprising with how many of these parties she'd attended. But there was always some sort of excuse why he wasn't there and it was usually the family bakery or his wife's family having something at the same time.

She also remembered that he'd gotten into a horrible accident the previous year and lost his wife and was badly injured. Mourning that loss along with his own healing process kept him home, from what she understood. Katniss couldn't even imagine what it must have been like to lose your spouse with a child so young.

Peeta chuckled. "It's still a shock to me sometimes, too. Ryan is the last guy I ever thought would get married. But he and Delly are going strong." He leaned in. "Can you believe she's having another baby?" He asked.

Katniss looked toward the woman in question. There was another boy about Sam's age helping his mother set up food. His name was Jason. Next was Carter, the birthday boy. A set of twins had followed barely two years after him, Jacob and Luke. And then another boy was born just a little over a year ago, Michael. Delly was only a few weeks along with this new one, but everyone was already abuzz.

"Are they trying for a girl or a football team?" Katniss asked.

Peeta threw his head back and laughed. "I don't know. I told my brother he needed to slow down, but he just shrugged. I don't know how they do it. I just have Callie and I'm exhausted."

"Well, two isn't easy either. But I heard once you have three, you can't really tell a difference anymore." She smiled and pointed. "Looks like Becca and Callie have paired up."

Peeta followed where she pointed and grinned. The two girls were now commanding the monkey bars. With all her archery practice, Becca had good upper-body strength and made it all the way to the end in record time. Callie, on the other hand, fell after the second rung and climbed onto the top to make an easier go of it.

Katniss chuckled. "Clever kid."

"Strong kid." He countered.

She smiled proudly. "My husband and I have been teaching her archery since she was barely two."

Annie sat down on the other side of Katniss with a sigh, her belly stuck out dramatically. "Someone tell me why I thought four kids was okay?"

Katniss laughed. "Don't ask me. I barely wanted two."

Peeta leaned around Katniss and smiled at the newcomer. "How are your other three doing?"

Annie pointed. "Pearl won't stop following in Maggie's shadow and Maggie has about had enough. Thankfully, Brendan and Finnick are having a guy day and I at least get a break from pre-teen angst."

Peeta chuckled. "Lucky you."

Katniss looked between the two, still feeling pangs in the center of her chest, and then stood. "I should probably help Delly." She stepped away and Peeta gently touched her arm. That same odd electric shock made its way up her arm and she looked down in wonder a moment before she pulled away.

"I'll come with you." He held out his hand to Annie. "Better keep ourselves in Delly's good graces."

Annie slipped her hand into Peeta's and allowed him to help her to her feet. "I guess." She placed her hand on her lower back. "Seriously still have three weeks of this shit." She grumbled as she waddled along with them.

Katniss kept busy the rest of the party. She filled cups of Kool-Aid and passed out plates of chips and cookies and pizza. She passed out two rolls worth of paper towels to clean faces and hands and used another to sop up spilled drinks before the bees and ants showed up.

And she avoided Peeta. If what she felt was what she thought it was, she needed to keep her distance. She was married, after all. Her hands tingled to touch him, wanting to feel the sensation of their skin touching again and the pull in her chest only increased every time he came closer. It felt almost like there was a rope attached to him, reeling them closer together. She resisted, even ran into the middle of the playground the second Becca asked her to play for a while just to get away from Peeta.

Katniss was one of the last to leave, helping Ryan and Peeta pack up the car. It was pretty uncomfortable. Delly sat with her younger three boys beside her and the birthday boy still running wild with Callie and Becca. Katniss finally called her daughter over amid all her grumbling and groaning.

"It was a great party, Delly." Katniss said, accepting the hug Delly offered. Katniss wasn't much for hugs, but she made an exception for Delly. "Becca, say goodbye."

"Mama, can Callie stay the night? Please?" Becca begged. "I'll do all mine and Sam's chores both if she can."

Katniss looked between the girls and then to Peeta. "I don't know, baby. That's not something we do unless it's a special occasion. I don't even know if her daddy or yours are okay with it."

Peeta spoke up. "Maybe some other time, Becca. Your parents and I don't really know each other and we probably should get to know each other better first."

Becca's bottom lip jutted out. "My mom and dad are really nice."

"I'm sure they are." Peeta said kindly. He bent down in front of her. "I tell you what. I'll get your mom's number and we'll set up an afternoon for the two of you to play together for an hour or two." He looked up at Katniss. "Sound good?"

Katniss nodded. "Sure."

They exchanged numbers as the girls performed a happy dance a few feet away. Afterward, Peeta held out his hand for her to shake. Katniss hesitated a moment before slipping her hand into his. She felt the shock again and saw in his eyes that he did too. There was a confidence there that frightened her a little. Though Katniss wasn't sorry for reveling in it just a moment longer than necessary.

She quickly pulled her hand away and flexed her fingers. "Come on, Becca. Time to head home." The moment she closed the car door, Katniss felt the invisible rope snap. She looked over her shoulder to see Peeta watching her and absently rubbing the center of his chest.

She thought about him for the rest of the afternoon. And that night, he was in her dream.